The Grape Crusader

Winery: Lioco

Bottling: 2008 Sonoma County Chardonnay

Region: California

Sub-Region: Sonoma

Estimated Retail Price: $20

Purchase Details: A good buddy of mine with whom I used to work with procured this bottle for me.  Based on the many conversations we had about wine, he felt strongly that I would really like Lioco’s wines, so he bought it for me from the company his wife works for.  Thanks Mark, Lioco can now count me as a lifetime fan.

Tasting Notes: On the nose, the Lioco chardonnay gave off very fresh floral and tropical notes.  In the mouth, I loved the play and intensity of the tropical fruit flavors with the creamy mouth feel along with the fresh finish from the underlying acidity.   Although utterly delicious on its own, I just know that if this chardonnay were drunk alongside food from India or Thailand, a wine and food pairing nirvana would be attained.
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Winery: Corte Gardoni

Bottling: 2008 Bianco di Custoza (40% Garganega, 20% Trebbiano Toscano, 15% Trebbianello, 25% Various local varieties)

Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

Region: Italy

Sub-Region: Custoza, Veneto

Estimated Retail Price: $13

Purchase Details: Purchased directly from Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant in Berkeley, California for $12.95 plus tax.

Tasting Notes: In the glass, a very pale straw, yellow hue.  Aromas of banana, white peach.  An immediate acid attack on the palate, followed by flavors of banana, dried pineapple, apple and a slightly bitter lemon rind finish.  This wine has a light body and an underlying creaminess that’s really interesting.

This is a white wine with some surprising substance and complexity that you wouldn’t expect in this price range.

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"REUILLY" from the Loire, not "RULLY" from Burgundy.

Winery: Domaine de Reuilly

Bottling: 2007 Reuilly Les Pierres Plates (Sauvignon Blanc)

Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

Region: France

Sub-Region: Reuilly, Loire Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $20

Purchase Details: Purchased for around $19.95 directly from Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants in Berkeley.

Tasting Notes: Pale straw in color with fresh and lively aromas of green apple, mineral and flint.  In the mouth, tangy flavors of green guava, lime, and grass with mineral on the finish.  A very green, herb driven flavor profile.  Crisp, crunchy, mouth puckering acidity and a lean mouth feel.

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Winery: Laetitia Vineyard & Winery

Bottling: 2006 Estate Pinot Blanc

Region: California

Sub-Region: Arroyo Grande Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $16

Purchase Details: A friend who shared this with us bought it at the winery for approximately $12.

Tasting Notes: In the glass the wine is a pale gold color.  On the nose, stone fruits, flint and tropical fruit.  In the mouth I get hints of papaya, white peaches, flint and wet stone.  This is a pretty full-bodied white wine with a little bit of an abrasive and hard edge to it.  The flavor profile is more mineral and stone driven than fruit-driven.

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Winery: Yalumba

Bottling: 2007 Viognier, Barossa Eden Series

Region: Australia

Sub-Region: Eden Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $19

Purchase Details: Friend who shared it with us purchased it from Costco for approximately $12.

Tasting Notes: In the glass, a light yellow straw color.  On the nose, aromas of white flowers, pear and jasmine.  In the mouth, flavors of apricot, pear, white peach, flint and wet stone.  A nice rich and creamy mouth-feel, accented by a lasting stony finish.  Even though viognier is typically a low acid wine, the combination of rich fruit and a slightly hard, wet stone edge keeps it from being flabby and one-dimensional.

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Winery: Quivira Vineyards

Bottling: 2007 Fig Tree Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

Region: California

Sub-Region: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma

Estimated Retail Price: $18

Purchase Details: Bought for $18 at R. Field

Tasting Notes: Quivira’s Fig Tree sauvignon blanc used to be fermented and aged in oak, but since new ownership has taken over, they’ve changed vinification processes and adapted the more modern and traditional style of stainless steel fermentation.  I was excited to try this new version.

On the nose, fresh citrus, herb and mineral.  In the mouth, lime, citrus, mineral and a nice wet-stone component.  The wine had a rich mid-palate that I thought might be lost without the use of barrel-fermenting and aging, but the current process of aging it on the lees while in the steel tanks surely helped retain somewhat of a richness.

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Some of my favorite white wines are dry, minerally-tinged zesty wines from Italy.  In my opinion, you can find many solid Italian white wines, outside of pinot grigio, in the $10 – $20 range.  Falanghina, vermentino, Orvieto and Arneis are just a few of the Italian varieties that I find can be very intriguing, fun and light-hearted, but serious at the same time.

This Toscana Bianco is a blend comprised of 50% vermentino, 30% malvasia and 20% chardonnay.  Its an off-beat blend that made for a unique and intriguing wine.

There was weight, minerality and a firm acid structure that allowed it to pair very well to our usual Mediterranean dinner fare.

The fruit component of the wine consisted mostly of barely ripe, almost green citrus fruit flavors.  I want to say that the flavors leaned more towards the rind of the fruit rather than the pulp and juice flavors.  Complementing the bitter citrus flavors however were a juxtaposition of lush tropical fruit that helped balance everything out.

This is another wine from a great import portfolio called Small Vineyards Imports, which is based in the Seattle, Washington area.  They carry some really good artisan crafted Italian wines in their portfolio.  I paid aprroximately $14 for this bottle of wine.

I sometimes tend to look at pinot grigio as a light-uninteresting-mass market-used in cheesy spring party in someone’s backyard lawn kind of wine.  Over the course of time, pinot grigio has become the most popular and widely imported wine into the U.S.  As a society we tend to be influenced easily by media and pop-culture, so I’m not surprised that with the number of print ads and commercials depicting pinot grigio as a “lifestyle” white wine, that pinot grigio has become so popular.

Unfortunately, popularity in certain varietals can sometimes compel producers who are not in it for the craft, to make mass-produced low quality styles just to satisfy a trendy demand and make a quick buck.  Just look at “I’m not drinking no f*@%^ng merlot’s” rise in the 80’s and fall in 2005 as an example of the effect of mass media and pop-culture.

Fortunately Steve Clifton and his Palmina Wines label celebrate Pinot Grigio and see it as more than just a crisp white wine.  We each had a glass of it this past weekend at Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar in Honolulu and were blown away by it.

On the nose, various stone fruits, zesty citrus and white flowers.  In the mouth, the intensity and impact of the wine far belied its pale color and delicate aroma.  Mega-intense in weight and alive, zesty and zippy in it’s attack on our palates.  The wine exploded with mouth-watering citrus fruits on the first sip.  White peach and stone fruits on the mid-palate and tropical fruits of mango and ripe pineapple on the finish.  Also on the finish was a hint of smokiness, lemongrass and a bone dry, snappy finish.  This was a complex wine indeed.

Palmina also makes a host of other Italian red and white varietals.  I love all of their wines, but I think their craft really shows in their white wine program.  Try their Malvasia Bianca, Traminer and Tocai Friulano.  They’re wonderful wines.

Palmina Wines

Winery: Cambiata Winery

Bottling: 2007 Albarino

Region: California

Sub-Region: Monterey

Estimated Retail Price: $24

Purchase Details: Purchased by the glass for $12 at Alan Wong’s Restaurant on Oahu for Mother’s Day.

Tasting Notes: What a pleasure and treat it was to dine at one of Oahu’s finest fine dining establishments, Alan Wong’s Restaurant.  Dining there usually means that a meal filled with fresh seafood is in order.  I’m glad this 2007 Cambiata Albarino was offered by the glass, because I tasted it last year and was very impressed by it.

In the glass the wine possessed beautiful yellow, green straw colors.  Citrus, white stone fruits, racy acidity and a juicy texture were making my palate happy.  Although the wine was weighty and mega-concentrated, the wine never felt heavy or overpowering.

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Winery: Bodegas Muga

Bottling: 2006 Rioja Blanco (Grape Varietal: Viura)

Importer: Jorge Ordonez

Region: Spain

Sub-Region: Rioja

Estimated Retail Price: $12-$14

Purchase Details: Purchased at Tamura’s Fine Wine & Liquors on Oahu for approximately $13 and change.

Tasting Notes: The last white Rioja I had was a Palacios Remondo “Placet” Rioja, and it was good.  It was intense and racy, and I loved it.  I wanted to have that same experience again, but this time with another producer.  Bodegas Muga was my next target.

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